Sayo Yasuda
The true antagonist of the forgeries, known only as , shortened from the surname Yasuda (安田). Throughout the entirety of Requiem of the Golden Witch, it is suggested that the name given to Yasu from the Fukuin House is Shannon. Yasu is the child of Kinzo Ushiromiya and Beatrice Ushiromiya who was born due to the result of incest. Yasu is, at the same time, Kinzo's child and grandchild. As a result, among the three, Yasu is actually the actor who played the part of the "illusory" witch Beatrice during the series. The series hinges on the mysteries surrounding Yasu. Relationships *Beatrice - character, role *Shannon - character, role *Kanon - character, role *Battler Ushiromiya - rival, love interest, nephew *George Ushiromiya - fiancée, nephew *Jessica Ushiromiya - love interest, niece *Maria Ushiromiya - best friend, niece *Chiyo Kumasawa - mother figure *Genji Ronoue - father figure *Beatrice Ushiromiya - mother, half-sister *Kinzo Ushiromiya - father, grandfather *Clair Vaux Bernardus - original Beatrice appearance, temporary form (during Requiem) *Lion Ushiromiya - alternative existence Appearance Before becoming Beatrice, Yasu appears as a frail, young girl with long blonde hair that covers their eyes. They are usually dressed in the traditional Fukuin maid outfit. Yasu's actual appearance after becoming Beatrice becomes very vauge as this is when they start taking on the persona of Shannon. Past Yasu was the child whom Kinzo gave to Natsuhi Ushiromiya to raise as her own, in attempt to atone for his sin by making a child a proper member of Ushiromiya family and giving it a happy life. However, Natsuhi rejected the child and was left guilt-ridden when the child fell off the cliff along with another servant nineteen years ago. Unknown to Natsuhi and Kinzo, the child survived the incident thanks to Genji and Nanjo. According to Nanjo the child was gravely injured. After the accident, Genji decided to keep the child's survival in secret to prevent another incestuous advance by Kinzo. To ensure that child wouldn't be found out easily, Genji lied about Yasu's age, lowering it by three years. Because of Yasu's feebleness and underdevelopment it was easy to fake. Genji personally arranged Yasu's hiring, hoping to reveal the truth if a good opportunity presented itself. He believed that if Kinzo truly felt affection as a parent, he would notice traces of the deceased mother and daughter in the child and Kinzo and Yasu would be able to develop a parent-child relationship without knowledge of truth. Yasu was initially nervous with life on Rokkenjima, which was completely different from the life in Fukuin House and everything was new and unfamiliar. As the youngest servant to work for the Ushiromiya family, Yasu was the only one who missed work in order to go to school. Though Natsuhi and Krauss always thought there was something odd about it, questioning Kinzo, Fukuin House and Genji didn't shed any light on this. Servants also did not welcome the special treatment Yasu was given and often complained about it. Because of Yasu's age and sloppiness, they grew to dislike Yasu even more, while Yasu continued to put effort into whatever work was given. However, older servants were annoyed by how often they had to help Yasu with chores because Yasu's young age didn't allow the young servant to do most things independently. However, these problems were viewed by Yasu as tests from God to help grow into a wonderful person someday. It is mentioned that aside from Shannon, Yasu seemed to be in good relationship with the House Director, who played with and taught Yasu about things that cannot be seen with one's eyes, but with eyes of the heart. This way Yasu learned how to recognise beings not of this world at the Fukuin House and often spent free time in isolated rooms dreaming. Later it is revealed by several monologues that Shannon is Yasu's imaginary friend, and that Yasu has been primarily disguised as Shannon. Basing on Kumasawa's stories of Beatrice's ghost and evil spirits of Rokkenjima, the young servant created the first Beatrice (later known as demon Gaap). When Yasu's sloppiness resulted in incidents like losing keys or cleaning implements, the servant blamed it on Gaap's magic. Yasu and the prototype Beatrice became friends over the small broom which Beatrice hid in order to prank Yasu. Yet even after getting used to life on Rokkenjima, Yasu didn't manage to make a single human friend. To help avoid the witch's pranks, Kumasawa gave Yasu a spiderweb charm (the kite strings) and taught Yasu a method to avoid losing things ('take them home' charm). Kumasawa's charms helped Yasu deal with forgetfulness and regain confidence. As time progressed, the young servant formed a relationship with Kumasawa and started borrowing mystery novels from her. Yasu found discussions and theorizing as the most entertaining part of mystery novels. While reading "And Then There Were None" Yasu ended up seeing mystery novels as a game between humans and witches. After previous servants left, Yasu decided to make a good impression on new servants and teach them the ropes, being the more experienced one. However, the new servants were already warned about Yasu's carelessness and they didn't take Yasu seriously. Because of that Yasu played a prank on the new servants, claiming that the behavior was the result of being possessed by Beatrice, in hopes that they would begin listening to Yasu. Initially they didn't believe but after some time they started admitting that something inhuman existed on this island, as pranks became harder to explain. The day Beatrice pranked servant for the first time Yasu represented a desire to become a witch rather than a perfect servant, claiming to be done playing the part of the servant. Yasu's world was modified and Yasu took on the name of the Golden Witch, the ruler of Rokkenjima's night, leaving previous Beatrice nameless for a while. Yasu's own self was erased from Shannon's memories, making the supposed two-person into single-person room and Beato took the form of a witch in white dress in accordance with rumors of Beatrice's ghost, the opposite of Gaap's appearance. As time progressed Shannon gained respect from the newer servants. Due to a relationship with Battler and other children, Yasu began to pay more attention to the real world, giving up magic. Few times a year, Shannon and Battler met to discuss mystery novels they read and the motive behind them. Both of them strongly believed that only a heart can move people to commit a murder. At some point these discussions became an excuse for them meeting alone. On the conference of 1980 Battler made a careless promise, which Shannon took seriously. This promise made Yasu think carefully about the future and consider not just quitting work as a servant on Rokkenjima, but also confessing to Battler and sharing a life with him. After Asumu's death and Rudolf's remarriage in 1981 to Kyrie Sumadera, Battler left the family due to a quarrel with his father and didn't participate in the next family meeting. Yasu considered it a trial of love. Battler didn't participate the family meeting in 1982 either, and jokes by the siblings hurt Yasu even more. Yasu started to believe that the trial must be an eternal torture and couldn't believe that Battler may have forgotten Shannon, even after having such a nightmare. The family conference in 1983 became the most influential. Battler gave Kyrie several letters addressed to all the siblings, leaving out Shannon. That event broke Shannon's heart. Shannon "visited" Beatrice, who believed that "the Root of Love" would kill Shannon. As a result, Yasu transferred Shannon's love for Battler to Beatrice, sealing those feelings deep inside the heart. Beatrice gained a form of Battler's ideal woman and learned love in exchange of pain. Yasu promised to create a little brother for Shannon so that she would not be lonely and will keep Battler off her mind. The next morning Kanon started working as one of the rare servants who serves Kinzo directly, like Genji. In April of 1984 the portrait of the Golden Witch and the epitaph, that doesn't exist in Lion's world, were displayed. The epitaph was a message, which only Genji could understand. It is implied that Kinzo, who was facing his last years, already realised that his child Lion is still alive. Afterwards Genji told Shannon and Kanon what was Kinzo's 'beloved hometown', giving Yasu a hint. Once the epitaph was solved, the truth about Yasu's birth was revealed to the young servant. Even after being chosen as the successor to the Ushiromiya family, Yasu decided that Krauss should become the successor and nothing has to change. Yasu only kept Beatrice's dress, the key to the VIP Room, and ten tons of gold. On November 29th, 1984 Yasu became the true Golden Witch Beatrice. Eventually, Shannon and Kanon started relationships with George and Jessica. In last two years Yasu greatly suffered from the conflict of the furniture with incomplete souls. Because of this complex, based on condition of body, Yasu did not believe in having a future, the right to love, and felt less than a human being. To reconcile these feelings, Yasu conceived there was a duel, the result of which was almost decided. During Dawn of the Golden Witch, this duel was assumed to be resolved along with trial of love. In Twilight of the Golden Witch, Shannon and Kanon suggest that the duel can be decided different ways, like coin toss or the quiz tournament. Rokkenjima Massacre On the day of October 4th, 1986, Yasu began their preperations to commence their murder-mystery game, but their plans were foiled by the adults solving the epitaph and discovering the gold. Yasu keeps their promise to stop the murders when the epitaph was solved. Yasu gives the adults the gold card and all 10 tons of gold, along with their cooperation to accept any punishment the adults have for them. Yasu ends up almost being murdered by Kyrie when she begins her assault, though somehow survived and on the morning of October 6th, they escape the island with Battler. Yasu however doesn't feel they can go on and jumps off the boat with a bar of gold to pull them to the depths of the ocean. This is heavily implied to have been the end of Yasu. Later on after the incident, Yasu's message bottles which pinned themself as the culprit wash up on the shores of Nijima under the name of Maria Ushiromiya which kick starts everyone's interest in the tragedy of the island. When exactly Yasu wrote the message bottles and set them off to sea is unknown but it was most likely before the incident occured. Relation to Lion Ushiromiya Yasu is the same person as Lion Ushiromiya, but Lion only exists in the worlds where Natsuhi accepts the infant given to her by Kinzo (the probability of this is 1 to 2,578,917). Lion's gender is never explicitly given, which reflects the ambiguity of Yasu's unknown gender. The gender matter Yasu's gender is said to be by Will "one of the story's great mysteries". Will admits that Lion's gender is difficult to discern, remarking that Lion could either be a "fairly slim boy" or a "no nonsense kind of girl". His direct attempt to ask for Lion's gender ends with Lion responding that "I'd hate to give you an answer so easily, so I won't". Because people often ask that question Lion has developed a bit of a complex towards it and the usual response is the same irritated answer, "Which do I look like to you?". Bernkastel confirms that she intentionally kept Lion's gender in secret. Will also states that while in countless fragments Yasu is thought of as female, in End of the Golden Witch, the only fragment that referred to Yasu before the cliff fall, Yasu is treated as male. In the fifth game Natsuhi is described as being uncertain of caller's gender; after discovering the caller's identity, Natsuhi appears to think of baby as male without doubting it ever again. Moreover that person referred to themselves as Jessica's older brother by one year. However, the likelihood of Yasu being female is reinforced by the fact that the two of Yasu's characters are female (Kanon is the only male out of three). In Dawn of the Golden Witch, Battler introduced two demons of opposite sex, but it is impossible to decide who is who, representing this ambiguity. In Requiem of the Golden Witch, there is a short scene during a montage in which Yasu bemoans having a "damaged" body that is "incapable of love", indicating that Yasu suffered some injury as result of the cliff fall. Also in the 5th game during the phone call "the man from 19 years ago" mentioned a wound, which "he" received because of Natsuhi and that it could not be healed. Different Identities and Illusions It is possible that Yasu created the alter ego Shannon (a perfect maid, loved and respected by everyone; the complete opposite of Yasu), as a role model and friend, before arriving at Rokkenjima, as Shannon had been Yasu's roommate and only friend since the Fukuin House. However, a growing interest in magic resulted in Yasu's desire to become a witch rather than remaining human. Abandoning Shannon, Yasu created Clair Vaux Bernardus, the first prototype of the Golden Witch Beatrice, as a self-image. However, a connection still existed between the two identities: Shannon had become the shy and clumsy, but persistent maid, and lover of mystery novels; and Beatrice (the strong side of the two), the ever so powerful and majestic witch. When Shannon's delusional love of Battler winds up causing Yasu too much pain. Beatrice took Shannon's love for Battler and Shannon splintered a part of herself to form Kanon, who would be Shannon's younger brother and will complete her universe. Each character developed their own love story: Beatrice-Battler / Shannon-George / Kanon-Jessica * Golden Witch Beatrice (loves Battler) * Shannon (loves George) * Kanon (loves Jessica) Yasu-Beatrice also created imaginary friends alone or with the help of Maria: *Gaap: Yasu's idea of Beatrice before taking the name and the title of a witch. Gaap would be Yasu's first friend on Rokkenjima. *Ronove: Beatrice's butler. (Reflection of Genji) *Virgilia: Beatrice's teacher. (Reflection of Kumasawa). *The Seven Stakes of Purgatory: Beatrice's high class furniture. All the sisters are a reflection of the servants who teased Yasu. (With Maria's help) *The Chiesters: High class furniture made from Maria's bunny forest band. (Maria's furniture) *Sakutaro: Maria's best friend and furniture. (Maria's furniture) Trivia * Yasu's note at the end of Legend of the Golden Witch is very similar to the note Keiichi Maebara left at the end of Onikakushi-hen. *It is unconfirmed if Yasu is male or female. **Male Theory *Yasu having both male and female characters/roles and sexual attraction to both genders may be due to the conclusion held by Yasu towards whether to identify as male or female. *It is possible that Yasu planned to become a red herring to hide identity of the true culprit. *Supposedly Yasu commited suicide on October 6, 1986, as the boat scene in EP8 showed, but there are also people who believe that Yasu actually survived and became Ikuko. *Portraits of Yasu's character/alternate universe self, Beatrice and Lion, have been featured, meaning Yasu is the character with most featured portraits. *Yasu's appearance is not shown in Episode 7 (manga is an exception). Bernkastel constantly displays Yasu as Clair Vaux Bernardus to confuse Theatergoers. Shannon and Kanon are only played roles. *In the "Answer to the Golden Witch", Ryukishi07 responded to "a body that is unable to love" with "If you take this expression as a basis, you can imagine their sad fate of having some kind of imperfection on a sexual level" implying that the injury had some influence on Yasu's sexual problems/gender. He also states that he had to obscure it, because it was a very adult topic. **Also Ryukishi said:"How scary must it be, to be told that your partner “wants children”, when you have a body that cannot make love." - referring to Shannon/Yasu, what might imply that Yasu is unable to have sex. Gallery banquet_yasu.jpg|Possible Yasu appearance in the manga of Banquet of the Golden Witch 11.jpg|Yasu as 'the man from 19 years ago' in the manga of End of the Golden Witch Yasubeato.jpg|Yasu and Beatrice in the manga of Requiem of the Golden Witch Yasu?.jpg|Possible silhouette of Yasu from the manga of Twilight of the Golden Witch Yasushannon.jpg|Yasu and Shannon during Clair's story in the manga of Requiem of the Golden Witch tumblr_mg4kc33ILA1rzigowo1_500.jpg|Yasu's servant outfit Category:Characters Category:Ushiromiya Family Category:Androgynous